Things I Saw in Hanoi, or Street Photography is Difficult While Drunk

After my recent trip to Hanoi, I ended up deleting about 98% of my photos. It was a photo-editing blood bath. Let me tell you why.

On my first morning in Hanoi I went a sports bar shortly after sunrise in order to watch game seven of the World Series. I drank coffee most of the game, but my new found and incredibly drunk Chicagoan friends insisted I have a beer after the 7th inning stretch. I grudgingly went along and ordered a brew.

After a rain-delay, extra innings, and several rounds of beer with my new friends, I was a little tipsy totally hammered. I stumbled out of the bar like a worthless drunk and snapped photos all afternoon like a crazy person. Most of the photos were fuzzy and unfocused, illustrating more my mental state and less of what I saw. Looking back through them, it was hard to know what I was actually aiming at. Case in point:

The next two days, even while sober, I continued to find the photogenic and interesting city a challenge to shoot. The narrow streets, constant buzzing of motorbikes, and frenetic pace of life made it hard for me to focus my attention. I was constantly trying to capture the energy instead of finding order in the chaos. Someday I will return and I am sure I’ll get better shots after learning from the experience.

40 thoughts on “Things I Saw in Hanoi, or Street Photography is Difficult While Drunk”

“Most of the photos were fuzzy and unfocused, illustrating more my mental state and less of what I saw.” Haha! Brilliant! 😀
I’ve had a handful of experiences with drunken photography too. The most extreme case was when I was totally drunk, rode a bicycle while shooting with the camera in one hand (using auto focus of course). I got some decent and even interesting results, but had to delete the majority of the photos.

My memory played a trick on me! I didn’t use autofocus.
I looked up the post to find the photos and in the comment section (from when it was still a fresh memory), I learned that I used:
“High ISO, f-stop 4, continuous shooting, manual focus set to some random spot in the far distance, one hand on the steering wheel, the other hand on the camera with a finger on the trigger. Pedal, steer and shoot away into the night.”

“The success rate was approximately 10% (If I remember correctly I came home with around 220 shots and ended up publishing 23 of them- the rest was deleted).
A typical example of what’s called ‘spray and pray’.”

Well, first of all, Go Cubs Go! It was a joyous night for me, but not so much for my Cleveland-born husband …

Drunk or not, I am terrible at photographing hectic cities. There’s just too much jumble to capture – too many people, wires, bikes, animals, cars, food stands, etc. I do best if I really narrow my focus. I still take a bunch of the whole-scene shots because it’s fun to look back at the chaos, but like yours, many of mine end up in the Trash. However, I really like some of the motion you’ve captured, inadvertent or not!

Well the keepers are certainly worth keeping. I think my fave is the guy getting a shave. So typical of that part of the world, and India. And the night shot is a beauty too. We loved Hanoi – so much going on that’s so very different from our part of the world. I didn’t know much about photography then, but I think I still got some okay shots. In hectic cities I just fire away at whatever appeals to me (like your shot of the guy lounging on his motorbike! That’s a great shot) and hope the background doesn’t interfere too much. Sometimes I get lucky.
Alison

Thanks Alison. I saw the guy getting the shave and just walked over and snapped it. That was one of the few times I was able to get something I was happy with. Agreed that Hanoi is a great city. It is so green for an Asian city.

Yeah, I’m not so great at shooting hectic anythings, including cities and diapers that need changing on some infant. And I don’t usually even pick up my camera if I’ve had a brew or two because I’m from the film generation and never wanted to waste expensive film! Old habits die hard. I like the ones the others above like, and love the one with the family on a bike…I still haven’t taken a good shot of five on a bike. The guy on bricks…that looks painful!! But I really like the one with the sign for Thanh Dung…well, for the obvious Badfish connotation one might conjure.

Hilarious as always! You made me miss Hanoi with those photos. I lived there for four years and really need to make an album but boy will that be hard as I have thousands of photos! (Not to mention all my dog in Hanoi ones as a subsection!) I secretly got some of my best shots after a couple boozy brunches at the metropole. I think it made me loosen up and engage with people more. Although there is always a sweet spot I suppose. With polo it’s two beers to take away the fear but any more and you come off at a gallop… With street photography I think you can go a lot higher but there are still limits…

Your photos were even more fun with the story attached! Your comment about trying to capture the energy instead of finding order in the chaos struck a chord with me. Perhaps that’s my flaw and why street photography just doesn’t work for me – I’m trying to capture a mood rather than a vignette within the mood. Thanks for the tip – I’ll keep it in mind.

My favourite photo – well, the 3rd one in with the fully loaded bike is a great one. Photos like these always make me take notice … but also the feature photo with the on-the-street barber shop. Love these little pop-up businesses 🙂

Those scenes always crack me up and I naturally want to shoot them. I wonder If I’d get over that if I lived in Hanoi? Yes, their balance is amazing, but I guess they’ve been doing it their whole lives.

About Me

Hi, my name is Jeff Bell. I went to Europe on a two-month trip in 2001 and never stopped traveling. I am currently living in Bangkok, Thailand. Follow along for photo essays, travel stories and the occasional cartoon.